The Western Europe Adventure has officially begun!! I met Nina in Amsterdam at The Flying Pig Hostel after a full night of no sleep. I had to leave for my flight in Tel Aviv at 2am and I didn't arrive in Holland till 12 hours later. Nina had spent her time on the red eye from Boston seated next to a little girl who kicked in her sleep. Needless to say we were both a bit tired, so after an energetic hello...we took a nap.

It was great to see Nina, not only because we have been separated for the past 7 months but also because she brought little bits of home with her. My mom had packed her with a new pair of shorts for me (I have been surviving on one pair of real shorts, not gym shorts, for the past month) and Nina's mom had given her enough food for a small feast (including a homemade SANDWICH! It was just like being home! Thanks Elizabeth!) That evening, Nina and I had ourselves a little picnic as we dangled our feet over the canal and then headed back to the hostel for the night.

The next day we really got to see Amsterdam. I know it as having two sides, one being a beautiful city with some great museums and, the other, a hedonistis party scene. We started out at the RijksMuseum after spending FOREVER at the train station getting a reservation for the overnight train we would be taking the next day to Berlin. Nina wants to major in Art History so she has been educating me at all the museums we go to. (oh, so we were supposed to be going to Belgium but we talked to some people at the hostel and it seems that Belgium isn't that amazing so for time's sake we cut it out of our itinerary). Anyway, the RijksMuseum was cool, we saw some Vermeers, Rembrandts and...Jan Steen? Nina just told me that last one since I couldn't remember anything else :). Afterwards we headed to the Anne Frank House (told you I was going Dad!). I thought the museum was incredible. I haven't read the book in quite a while but it didnt matter since a story like that really stays cemented in your mind. It was raining (the weather was HORRIBLE that day) so we stood huddled together in the lind that wrapped around the building. The museum is set inside the original hiding spot of the Frank's which is the office building of Otto Frank, the father. The lower rooms had kept their original furniture (or replicas, whatever) and gave info about what he business was (they sold some type of gelatin for jams) and the timeline of the Nazi occupation. There were also mini 3D diagrams of what the Secret Annex looked like. Otto Frank wanted the hiding place never to be furnished again. We got to walk through the Secret Annex which was really interesting but I have to say the part of the museumn that affected me the most was a video they had of an interview with Otto Frank,. He was the sole survivor of the Holocaust out of his family. He found Anne's diary and published it several year slater. He discussed in the interview that he knew Anne wrote a diaru and had even kept it in his briefcase at night, promising her never to read it. When he eventually did read it, he was shocked at what Anne was feeling, at her depp insights and her self criticism. I distinctly remember him saying, "I had a very close relationship with my daughter so this leads me to the conclusion you don't know really your children".

That night, Nina and I met up with Kevin, someone I know very randomly. Last December I went to South Africa to visit my friends. I went to Cape Town with two fo them adn there we met a group of guys (one Australian, the rest South African). One from the group moved to Amsterdam. We went to dinner with him and then headed to...DUM DUM DUM...the Red Light District. It's exactly what you would expect- prostitutes (half naked of course) ranging from bored to extremely enthisiastic (or desperate, which ever you prefer) stand in display windows. The crowd is mixture of rowdy boys, older couples and skeezy men. Photos are strictly NOT allowed to be taken of the girls...but of course we got one with their luminous underwear showing in the background.

Next day, we had to check out and then we out for lunch with another firend of mine in Amsterdam. I mt Floor in Bondi, Australia the first day I was there. She was supposed to be traveling till June but she got mono and had to go home (how much does that suck?!). ANyway, it did mean that I got to see her again. We ended up having a thre hour lunch that Floor than paid for, which was MUCH appreciated. After lunch we had a few hours to kill before our train so we went to the cheapest museum in Amsterdam, the Sex Museum. It was actually a really nice building, very well lit by lots of natural light comin on, Its 'artifacts' range from cheap gags (I got farted on by a butt on the wall!) to ancient pornographic photos. It was interesting to say the least.

Amsterdam is labeled by the Lonely Planet at the most beautiful city in Europe. All-in-all, we thought it was fun and nice but too touristy to ever live in.

We took an overnight train to Berlin, which included waking up at 4am to switch trains- Lovely! Even just during the train ride to the stations, Nina and I knew we liked Berlin. We went thorugh a gorgeoud park and there was just so much spave and greenery! The weather was also much better than in Amsterdam. Walking to our hostel was just like walking in Boston, and immediately reminded us of home. We checked in, dropped our bags and went exploring. We mainly just wandered downtown, browsing through a Sunday Market and ending up at the Hisory Museum, which was free entrance for some reason so, obviously, we went in. It wasn't amazing- we saw some really old books and paintings before hunger got the best of us and we walked back. We showered and got a bit dressed up for dinner (meaning I put on my only dress). We ate Italian and afterwards went for a cocktail (we're legal here, remember?) where we met some...interesting German guys, who we learned from geography from (literally) and then left.

We woke up a bit late the next morning and headed to an art museum near the hostel. Turned out to be closed on Mondays- lame. SO we went to the massive gardens where the Brandenberg gates are. THe park was gorgeous, definitley rivaling Central Park. The gate was cool except for all this construction surrounding it (see photo!). There was also a protest to stop the war in Sri Lanka going on. We then walked to the last remaining portion of the Wall. Believe me, it wa sa far walk, but I'm against public transport (within reason, of course) because I think walking is the best way to really see a city. The Wall was really cool, covered in graffiti art and lots of signatures (of course we added ours). Our favorite quote on the Wall was, "NO MORE WARS, NO MORE WALLS, UNITE THE WORLD". We then walked back to the hostel, taking us 1.5 hours- thank god we like to talk!

And that brings me to today! We checked out and went to the museum that was closed on Monday. Turns out half of it is under construction so we saw some intense contemporary art (lots of Frank Beuys and some Duchamp) and not much else, but it was still pretty awesome (though I have to say that seeing someone get covered in food and wrapped in plastic wrap kind of freaked me out). We headed to the train station after and, here I sit, on the train to Munich. In Munich we will be couch surfing (remember when I did that in Australia?) with a girl named Pipps. She seems fine, she's into art so Nina and her will have something to talk about. On Wednesday we head to Zurich!

*Hey, I wrote this a couple days ago but still wanted to put it up. Nina and I went to Munich and stayed at Pipps (her real name is Kati!). Turns out she is a lover of...ISRAEL! She os going for the third time next month (but she's not Jewish). Also, I am convinced she went to Nashoba for a German exchange program 10 years ago. All she could remember was that she went to a school starting with an N and it was quite far from Boston. How crazy? Anyway, she was really cool to hang out with. Today, we headed to a museum that we thought would have the Ishtar Gates from Babylon...turns out that was actually back in Berlin- whoops! We still saw some really famous pieces...Nina isn't here right now to supply me with the names but they were intense. We are on the train to Zurich right now where we will spend the night with one of Nina's older sister
s friends. Then tomorrow we head to Lausanne, where we will spend a couple nights up in the mountains with my mom's friends. On Saturday/Sunday we will hopefully be heading to Paris.

*AHHH so it has been really hard to get on the internet on my computer so I have been postponing putting up the blog...and now we are in Paris at the end of Nina's adventure!! So, we went to Zurich and stayed in the most amazing student housing there. I guess everyone there has some part of the amazing view from their house. We took a train to Lausanne to meet Tanya's daughter. She took us up to Villars which was...undescribable beauty. I can't even try. just look at the photos (when I can get them up...I will do it tonight) Nina and I arrived in Paris last night, where we are staying at Pierre's apartment (another friend of my mother). He was been absolutely amazing so far, keeping us up with some great conversation and then playing classical music in the morning to gently wake us before serving us coffee and croissants for breakfast! He left soon after for the countryside so we are left in charge of his sweet (and amazingly decorated) flat. What a horrible responsibility....

Nina leaves for Boston on Wednesday and I am training it to Cannes the next day to meet my Mom!